I keep wanting to do an LJ update, but I just don't have anything to say that seems worthy of a whole post. Therefore I will present this post in the form of a list of random things that are true.

- Summer is here and it is HOT. And while the rest of the country has been having a violently stormy spring, we're in the midst of a severe drought down here. Considering our climate generally resembles a rainforest, this is a Big Deal.

- I have been a movie-going fool lately. I've seen Thor (more fun than I expected, but not a great movie), Bridesmaids (not as funny as I'd hoped, but still enjoyable) and X-Men: First Class (fantastic). This weekend I think I'm going to see if I can talk Mr. Sus and the munchkin into going to see Super 8 with me.

- The White Collar season premiere was surprisingly good. Now that Kate's out of the picture, I have hopes that they'll keep the focus where it belongs: Neal's relationship with Peter. With as much bonus Mozzie as they can squeeze in there.

- Leverage comes back in a couple of weeks and I am totes excited. I miss my goofy, wonderful show when it goes away. Maybe this summer I'll even finish that Leverage/Warehouse 13 crossover fic I started a while back.

- Speaking of fic, instead of working on the novel I'm supposed to be writing, I've been simultaneously writing both my serial X-Men fic and a Castle fic. Yep, I've committed my first act of Castle fic. This is what happens when I happen to be reading Raymond Chandler's short stories at the same time the Castle season finale airs. And then I play a lot of LA Noire and the next thing I know I've written an AU story starring Castle as a hard-boiled private detective in 1940s Los Angeles. And shockingly, I actually finished it last night! I just have to go back and do some editing/revising/proofreading and it'll be ready to post.

- And not only did I write a fic, I seem to have made art to go with it:

Oh man, tell me about it. I find this fandom a tad frustrating, the way so much of the fic revolves around Eliot. ffn seems to be largely Eliot/Parker which is, you know, okay, I'll read it occasionally, same as Eliot/Hardison, but those two just aren't pairings I'd seek out. (And LJ has some Eliot/Nate which so doesn't work for me.)

I just don't get why so many people think the other characters aren't as interesting as Eliot. Every one of them is so awesome. I'm constantly trawling for fic that has the whole team in equal parts, because that's when they're at their best. (Equally frustrating is looking for Sophie/Nate... so few people are writing them and I find their relationship fascinating.)

I mean, it's not a total fic desert, better than other fandoms, but still...

I hear you, sister. I mean, I adore Eliot, but the thing I really love about Leverage is the ensemble. Any fic that doesn't give me a little bit of that just isn't giving me enough of the original material to be interesting. Nate and Sophie have never been my favorite characters (either apart or together) but I can see how you'd be frustrated if that's what you were looking for in fics.

It's not just Leverage, either. X-Men fic is now nothing but Xavier/Magneto. And don't get me wrong, I loved First Class and I totally get the Charles/Erik vibe, but I want fic that's more than just a 400-word snippet of a sex scene. Even Castle fandom is super heavy on the Ryan/Esposito smutfic, which seems kind of weird because you'd think Castle/Beckett would be a no-brainer.

And it's not like I'm against slash or smut in general, it's just that I want more than just that. If it doesn't come in the context of an actual story, with a plot and character development, then I just don't see the point. But I know I'm in the minority in fandom. I wish more people like the kind of fics that I like so that there'd be more of it out there.